Day 8 - Afternoon

All is quiet this afternoon, much like the calm before a storm. Rayna is sleeping. Peyton is sedated. Even my dad is yawning off.

We are on restricted interaction with Peyton this afternoon. The docs want an uneventful day, so touching is minimal. Sounds are muted at best. Thankfully the monitors are not disturbing the peace with their symphony of tormenting beeps and chirps.

The surgeon comes at 6pm. I hope I've got the mental stamina to engage well, ask good questions, and decipher whatever medical jargon we encounter.

I've been singing a song in my head over and over, and Rayna and Lynsdi encouraged me to share about it. The song, linked above, is Never Let Go, by Matt Redman. Ever since Sharon's death (Rayna's mom) in February, I've been haunted by Psalm 23:

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of
my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

I hear the song, and it captures so eloquently many of the themes in Psalm 23...the protection and comfort in the hands of the Almighty...the freedom to live a life of peace in the shadow of the sovereign...the grace to walk in His ways. I find myself singing this often, occasionally at the top of my lungs and sometimes in tears, as both praise to the Creator and a reminder to me, the created.